Behind the Boy There is a Man
by Mizgeorgiapeach
Summary: A classic Draco and Ginny romance. Not yet completed, but chapters will be continuously posted
1. Qudditch

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. All are J.K. Rowlings'. I hope that the rest is self-explanatory. Thank you for reading! Enjoy!  
  
The sun that shone from the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall reflected off of Draco's golden goblet of pumpkin juice, causing him to squint and push his goblet to the side. He took a bite of his toast and glared at the people around him. Crabbe sat on his left, inhaling sausages so fast that Draco didn't doubt the possibility that he was swallowing them whole. Sitting on Draco's right was Goyle, who looked as if he were demonstrating the eating habits of a chipmunk, for there was so much food in his mouth that his cheeks were stuffed full causing him to look exactly like the afore mentioned animal.  
"If you continue to inhale your breakfast, Crabbe, you will never get a date for the Yule ball," Draco drawled. And Goyle, I highly doubt that Pansy Parkinson will want to go to the ball with an overgrown git who resembles a chipmunk. Now pull yourselves together!" Looking quite agitated, Draco pushed the remains of his eggs around his plate with a fork. Although it was normal for him to snap orders at both Crabbe and Goyle, today he issued the orders vehemently in order to avoid expressing his true emotions. In truth he was very nervous about the upcoming Quidditch match against Gryffindor. As much as he hated to admit it, and in fact he never had, the Gryffindor team was quite a bit better than the Slytherin team and Slytherin's only true hope for victory was if Harry Potter went temporarily blind and Draco was able to capture the snitch right from under his nose. In other words, they were doomed. Being in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Draco, as well as the rest of the seventh year Slytherins, wished that they could see a Slytherin victory for the Quidditch cup. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch cup every year that Draco had been at Hogwarts and if Draco could just catch the snitch before Harry in today's game, Slytherin would have a good running chance. It also didn't hurt that Draco would be considered a hero if he brought a victory for Slytherin.  
"Here, have my new broomstick," a first-year Slytherin would say. "It's the newest model, a Lightning bolt!" But Draco's biggest hope was to see his father's proud face as he would say to anyone who would listen, "That's my son! That is my boy who grabbed that snitch right out from under the famous Harry Potter's nose!" However, Draco was jolted back to reality when someone bumped into him from behind. He whirled around just in time to see a girl with long red curls disappear around the corner.  
"Filthy Weasley," Draco yelled after her. "Maybe your mother should try to get work as a house maid so that she can afford to get you glasses. That way you would be able to see where you are going." Unfortunately for Draco, Ginny Weasley was already halfway across the lawn and therefore his insults fell on deaf ears. Well, almost on deaf ears. A pair of strong hands grabbed the back of Draco's robes and turned him around fiercely.  
"Whatever you have to say Malfoy, you can say directly to me," Ron Weasley spat in Draco's face. "You have no right trying to terrorize my sister like that. Didn't your father ever teach you to have respect for women? Oh, that's right; your father doesn't even have any respect for you, so how could he teach you to have respect for others?" Ron's face was slowly changing from a shade of bright red, to a deep shade of purple. Hermione raced up and grabbed Ron's arm.  
"Ron, please stop, Professor McGonagall is coming over here and you don't want to lose any more points for Gryffindor do you? We are still trying to make up for the points we lost after you got into that fight with Malfoy last time. And I'm sure that you don't want to end up in the Hospital Wing for another week."  
"You should listen to your little mud-blood girlfriend, Weasley," Draco snarled. "You wouldn't want me to bash your head in again."  
"Like you could," Harry said, coming up on Ron's other side, his hands already balled into fists at his sides. "As I remember it, you spent three weeks in the Hospital Wing due to the thrashing Ron gave you. The only reason he ended up in the Hospital Wing was because you managed to hex him from your stretcher." In one sudden movement, Draco grabbed Ron's wrists and twisted them, causing Ron to let go of his Draco's robes.  
"Well if he hadn't thrown his first punch when my back was turned," Draco smirked, "then I would have had no reason to hex him."  
Professor McGonagall walked up behind Harry and looked sternly at the four students.  
"What is going on here?"  
"I'll see you in the Quidditch pitch, Weasley," Draco said, and even though his stomach was turning at a faster rate each second, he managed a rude look at Harry before turning sharply and heading down the stairs to the front lawn. ....................................  
  
Ginny ran as fast as she could down to the quidditch pitch. When Harry had been reinstated as Seeker at the beginning of the year, she had been able to remain on the team by taking Angelina Johnson's spot as a Chaser. This sudden change in positions meant a lot of extra practice on Ginny's part and she had meant to get in some practice before the game. Ginny glanced at her watch.  
"Damn," she said to herself. "Only ten minutes before Harry's pre- match pep talk."  
When she reached the Quidditch pitch, the stands had already begun to fill.  
I suppose I should just change, Ginny thought to herself as she steered herself into the Gryffindor team locker room. As she pulled on her scarlet team robes, the rest of the team straggled in from breakfast, talking animatedly about the upcoming match. Ginny took a seat on the bench just as Harry called everyone to order.  
"Now, as everyone knows, today's match is against Slytherin," Harry said. There were many loud groans from the assembled players.  
"If we continue with that attitude," Harry said, glaring at each individual player, "then we will not be able to properly focus on the game, and in order for us to have a Gryffindor victory, it is entirely necessary that we have our complete focus on the match at hand."  
Ginny only half listened as Harry told everyone to do their best and lectured them about remaining focused. She was trying to go over the moves that her fellow chaser, Seamus Finnegan, had taught her before.  
"The Porksoff Play is when a chaser makes as if to dart upward with the quaffle, drawing an opposing chaser upwards, and then dropping the quaffle to another player," she mumbled under her breath. She had tried this play before, but had royally screwed up when a chaser from the Ravenclaw team had scooped up the quaffle before Dean, another chaser on the Gryffindor team, had been able to catch it. She just had to make sure that she didn't do that again.  
"You alright, Ginny?" her brother Ron asked, staring at her with a concerned look.  
"I'm quite alright," Ginny said, agitated that he had broken her train of thought. She allowed him to usher her onto the Quidditch pitch, where when she glanced up, she found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy. Draco glanced down at her before glaring at Ron.  
"Hang on to your broomstick, Weasley," he sneered.  
Ginny had to use her full weight to keep Ron from attacking Draco.  
"Just ignore him," she hissed. "Focus on the game."  
"Ok, on my whistle then," Madam Hooch called.  
Ginny mounted her broom and kicked off when the whistle blew. ....................................  
  
The wind rushed through Draco's hair as he soared into the air. While he was usually able to leave most of his worries back on the ground, he was not able to leave his nerves there today. I've just got to find that snitch before Potter, he thought. That can't be too hard. But his stomach was still churning.  
God damn it! Why have I got such a weak stomach? Draco's eyes frantically searched the air for the snitch. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sun just in time to see a bludger speeding towards his head. He dove, and recovered gracefully, as the bludger sped over his head, missing him by mere inches.  
Damn it. Bloody bludger almost killed me! Draco resumed his search for the snitch.  
There it is. Right above Ginny Weasley's mass of auburn curls was the golden snitch! Draco shot off like a rocket, directly at the youngest Weasley. Ginny turned as she noticed him coming and froze, a look of confusion and terror plastered across her face. To her it looked as if Draco were trying to plow right through her. All of a sudden, a blur of scarlet hurtled in front of Draco.  
Shit! Draco swerved, but the unavoidable occurred. Draco collided with the scarlet robed figure, and while the blonde boy was able to remain on his broom stick, the other was not, and began falling face first towards the ground. Draco, just seconds away from being able to catch the snitch, winning the game and therefore gaining all glory, swore under his breath as he tore his eyes away from the snitch and hurtled after the falling form that was Harry Potter. Just a few feet from the ground, Draco grabbed the back of Harry's robes. Harry twisted his neck to see who had saved him from sure death, just to see Draco Malfoy staring down at him, breathing heavily. Harry's face contorted with confusion and disgust.  
"Let. Go. Of. Me. Malfoy," he grunted with obvious effort as the collar of his robes was beginning to cut off his air supply.  
"Ok," Draco said as he released his grip on Harry's robes. "You ungrateful git." Harry landed flat on his face on the hard dry ground. He struggled to his feet, rubbing his nose which was turning red just from the impact of the three- foot fall. For the second time in just five minutes, a scarlet blur flew towards Draco, but this time, Draco was ready. He neatly jumped off his broom, landing on his feet on the ground below, just as Ron Weasley hurtled through the space that Draco had just occupied. The handle of Ron's broom hit the ground with a sickening crack as it threw it's rider to the ground. Ginny flew down and landed next to her now unconscious brother, glancing curiously at Harry and Draco, who were now glaring at each other.  
"What did you do that for," Harry yelled, still rubbing he nose, which was already turning black and blue.  
"If you mean why I just saved your sorry excuse for a life, I don't know," Draco replied coolly.  
"You know what I meant." Harry squinted at Draco, trying to see him clearly through his cracked glasses.  
"Oh, right. Well, I thought that would be self-explanatory." Draco turned away from Harry's death stare to see Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore hurrying across the grass towards them, Hermione Granger close on their heels.  
"Potter, hospital wing," Professor McGonagall began barking out orders. She turned as Professor Snape came up beside her. "Severus, please take Mr. Weasley to the hospital wing." Snape glared at her, but withered under her stern look as he flicked hi wand and a stretcher appeared, carrying Ron. Ginny clung to her brother's hand as eh walked towards the castle with him, looking at Draco over her shoulder with a slightly awed look on her face.  
A picture would last longer, Draco thought to himself, but he couldn't help letting his eyes follow her as she walked up the stairs and into the school. ....................................  
  
Oh my God, he has a heart. Ginny could not stop thinking about what had happened at the Quidditch match that afternoon. After sitting by the unconscious form of her brother for what seemed like an eternity, he had finally awoken, and once convinced that he was fine, she allowed Madam Pomfrey to shoo her out of the hospital wing. Ginny was walking towards Gryffindor tower when she heard someone approaching from the opposite direction. Not wanting to be confronted by Filch at this time of night, she ducked behind a tapestry just in time to see Draco Malfoy come around the corner carrying a broomstick under his arm. The moonlight coming through the window illuminated his slivery blonde hair, causing Ginny to breathe in sharply. Draco had never been what Ginny had considered attractive, but this year he all of a sudden had this sexy, graceful way that caught her eye every time he passed her in the hall.  
This is Draco Malfoy she reminded herself again. You hate him. He's an ungrateful git who just happened to save Harry's life today.  
"God damn it," she said under her breath as she came out from behind the tapestry and silently followed the boy out the door and across the lawn towards the Quidditch pitch. ...................................  
  
Author's Note: This is my first fan fiction, and therefore it is likely to not be very good. I am going to attempt to write a chapter per week, but with the start of school fast approaching, this in all likelihood may not be possible. I hope that you enjoy the first chapter of this romance, and I hope that there will be many more to come 


	2. Thankyou

First of all, an apology to all of you whom will receive notices saying that I have updated my fan fic..This is not a new chapter.. I wish it were, but I have been working a lot and the second chapter is close to completion. I just wanted to post some things that I felt need to be posted.  
  
I want to apologize for not doing this sooner, but I want to thank my two beta-readers, Debbie and Megan. They are the ones who, when I told them I wanted to write fan fiction, convinced me to go along with my idea, and they have been pressuring me to continue with the story. They have also been correcting the many mistakes that have been in my story so far. Debbie thankfully pointed out a mistake that I had missed that made it sound as if Draco was insulting himself! Now that would've been a catastrophe! Thank you so much for reading, and look for chapter 2 which will be coming soon!  
  
~Mizgeorgiapeach 


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